This year for Christmas we went to our Daughter's home in Washington.....the first time we had ever been away from our own home at Christmas time!
The weather on our journey north from southern California to Washington was beautiful, at least it was once we were about 2 hours down the road...the rainy skies cleared and it was clear weather for most of our trip....so I decided to take photos of the trip home and share them with everyone :)
My first photo is the I5 heading south, just below Seattle, a clear road...beautiful scenery....not bad, right? Until you pay attention to those low foggy clouds in the distance...a harbinger of things to come!
As you cross the Columbia River and leave Washington you enter Portland, Oregon...I knew you would all love to see a photo of the river, with the city in the background.....well remember those low foggy clouds? In Portland they became heavy rain and low foggy clouds....so the only photo I could get was of the bridge we were on *the lower level of the bridge that is...
So...here is my Portland photo for all of you to enjoy!
As we drove the 300 or so miles from Portland to Medford, Oregon the weather only changed from rain...to heavy rain...to downpours of rain...and of course the fog remained pretty constant too...a difficult driving day for my husband, we were so happy to check in to a hotel for a night's rest because we knew the mountain pass we needed to drive through to reach California was closed for tonight because of SNOW!
The Siskiyou Pass usually is cleared and open to traffic about 10AM in the morning so we slept in, ate a good breakfast, made sure the car was fueled up and started down the I5....only 27 miles to the Oregon/California border....20 miles...chains required signs...surely not? 14 miles...flashing lights...no chains? Turn around and put some on...Please!
This was a rental car, it did not come with chains :( One hour, $111.00 and a pair of chains on the front tires later...we start out again...slowly, since you can only drive 20 to 30 mph with chains on your tires.
Up and over the Siskiyou Pass...WooHoo and on to California, where the weather cleared and most of the snow disappeared....
At least until we left the I5 and headed East on hwy 58 toward Las Vegas, Nevada....somewhere between Bakersfield and Temecula, Ca. we found snow again...but at least the road was open and chains were not required!
Onward to the Las Vegas area to deliver my Dad home....lovely soft beds, a nights rest and a homemade meal from my sister. The next day we headed back to California and home...another 250 to 300 miles but this time through the California desert, here is the state line...it is lined with casinos...on the Nevada side....
250 miles after we saw this from our car window we saw the lights of home....Ohhhh...lovely! Even if the temperature INSIDE our home was a chilly 51 degrees...time for a fire in the fireplace and a cup of hot chocolate...
Trips are fun but it is wonderful to get back home!
VE
